A SYDNEY dance teacher who pleaded guilty to dozens of child sex offences allegedly begged the parents of one of his victims to keep quiet, saying: “What about my reputation?”

The Child Abuse Royal Commission yesterday heard from the parents of a student who said she was asked to masturbate in front of dance school director Grant Davies and was abused from the age of nine.

The former student, now 23 and referred to as BZP, did not tell her parents about the abuse until she was 15, six years after it started. Her parents told the commission they confronted Davies, 41, once they found out. That was when Davies cried and admitted what he had done. Then he asked them the most insulting question, Fairfax reported.

Davies allegedly told the father: “I’ve done something terrible. I’ve really made a mistake. I’m so sorry, I may need to get help.”

The former dance teacher was arrested in May 2013 over abuse against students he taught at the now-defunct RG Dance studios in Chiswick. He pleaded guilty to 47 child sex abuse offences against students ranging in age from nine to 14. His sentencing was delayed in February this year for psychiatric evaluation.

The commission heard Davies sent text messages to a student aged 13 about a dream he had in which the pair had sex with a third student. He asked the same student via MSN Messenger about masturbation.

When he was confronted by her parents in 2007, all parties — including Davies’ sister and studio co-owner Rebecca Davies — agreed the accused needed to seek treatment.

The victims’ parents said they believed Davies would not teach at the studio again, but later learned he had returned to his job.

The commission heard Grant Davies sent text messages to a student aged 13 about a dream he had in which the pair had sex with a third student. Picture: FacebookSource:Supplied

The commission heard Davies was treated for one week before his counsellor gave him the green light to return to the school. Earlier, the commission heard that BZP was threatened by Davies. She was told she “would never see her family again” if she told anyone he abused her.

Another former student, referred to by commission as BZM, said she was told to keep quiet by Davies’ sister.

“(Rebecca said), ‘Anything that gets said in this classroom doesn’t get taken back to your parents. It stays between these four walls.’”

BZM’s mother told the commission her daughter was scared of the consequences of speaking up.

“There was an unspoken rule that if you did not follow the rules your child would suffer,” she said.